Trout Pond
Encyclopedia
Trout Pond, located near Wardensville
in Hardy County
, West Virginia
, USA, is the state's only natural lake. The small "lake" is situate in the Trout Pond Recreation Area of the George Washington National Forest.
Trout Pond was created by a sinkhole
that filled with water from a series of mountain streams running off Long Mountain (3,130 feet). Much of the region surrounding Trout Pond lies on layers of limestone
that have been slowly eroded away by rainfall, causing conical holes to open up within the ground. Many of these sinkholes grow quite large with significant depths like Trout Pond, but because of its unique location, it has been able to maintain a permanent feature as a lake.
Wardensville, West Virginia
Wardensville is a town in Hardy County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 246 at the 2000 census. Originally named Trout Run, Wardensville was chartered in Virginia in 1832 and incorporated in West Virginia in 1879. It is named for the town's first merchant. It is home to Trout...
in Hardy County
Hardy County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,669 people, 5,204 households, and 3,564 families residing in the county. The population density was 22 people per square mile . There were 7,115 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...
, West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, USA, is the state's only natural lake. The small "lake" is situate in the Trout Pond Recreation Area of the George Washington National Forest.
Trout Pond was created by a sinkhole
Sinkhole
A sinkhole, also known as a sink, shake hole, swallow hole, swallet, doline or cenote, is a natural depression or hole in the Earth's surface caused by karst processes — the chemical dissolution of carbonate rocks or suffosion processes for example in sandstone...
that filled with water from a series of mountain streams running off Long Mountain (3,130 feet). Much of the region surrounding Trout Pond lies on layers of limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
that have been slowly eroded away by rainfall, causing conical holes to open up within the ground. Many of these sinkholes grow quite large with significant depths like Trout Pond, but because of its unique location, it has been able to maintain a permanent feature as a lake.